Children of the After: Awakening (book 1) Read Free Page A

needed a plan.
    * * * * *
    Sam felt his arms squeeze around her and Will tightly, and
opened her eyes in time to see Jack press his lips to Will’s head. Just like Dad
did. Her eyes began to water. He was telling them goodbye. She could not, no,
would not believe that this would be the end, and as such she only watched,
keeping her mouth shut firmly as he turned quickly to hide his own tears that
threatened to escape him. She knew he was trying to be strong for them. He was
trying to do what Dad would do, and she was proud of him for it.
    Listening as Jack punched in the code that would unlock the
door, she gasped slightly as the lights went dark, the last of the battery
reserve finally failing in an effort to release the locking mechanism. With a
loud clank, she felt more than saw Jack shove the door open as a wall of air
blasted her in the face causing her to close her eyes. When they opened again,
Jack was gone.
    Clinging to Will’s hand she dragged him to the side of the
doorway, as again and again the great metal door slammed into the wall of the
shelter with no sign of Jack in the darkness beyond. Cold wind howled as a
flash of blinding light illuminated the portal through the wall, and she saw
Jack fighting to stand as blood trickled down from his head. Beyond him,
nothing but an ominous sky filled with angry clouds and lancing rain, and then
it was all gone.
    Flinging herself into the doorway, releasing Will’s hand to
grasp at both sides of the door frame, she screamed Jack’s name into the
darkness, her voice becoming lost in a thunderous boom that made her knees
quiver. But she didn’t give up.
    Seeking with her eyes in the darkness she noted a variance
in the blackness, like a shadow moving among the dark abyss, and reached out to
grab its advancing form. Grasping at Jack’s track sweatshirt, she narrowly
stumbled backwards over Will, who also sought to drag their brother in out of
harm’s way. Vaguely she noticed that the LEDs had illuminated once more, though
scarcely so.
    Once inside, Jack crumpled to the floor, whether in pain or
defeat, she couldn’t be sure, but noting the ragged cut on the side of his
head, Sam acted without hesitation. Stating her intentions, she spun and carefully
picked her way back through the dark and now deafeningly loud vault into the
adjoining chamber. Once through the narrow doorway, she traced her fingers
along the steel wall until she found what she sought. Pulling the small metal
box from its place upon the wall, Sam returned through the wind and relative
darkness to both her brothers’ sides, and began tending to Jack’s wound. She
remembered he was always a big baby when it came to the burn of antiseptic
spray and blew on it, just as Mom used to, before bandaging him up. When her
task was finished they shared a look, and she knew they needed to talk. Nothing
was as expected.
    “Can we get this closed somehow?” Sam shouted above the
howling wind outside.
    Without a word Jack nodded and made to rise. Not knowing
what he intended, Sam simply watched as Jack crossed the narrow room and began
removing the pins that secured one of the unused bunks to the wall. A bed meant
for their mom or dad. A mom or dad that it was now quite obvious wouldn’t be
coming for them.
    Noting his intentions she rushed to help him, and together
they unfastened the frame and removed it and the mattress from the wall. Dragging
the bunk across the steel floor, Sam watched as Will picked up the first aid
kit and moved out of the way for them. Struggling against the wind surging
through the door, they hefted their makeshift barricade into place. Within
minutes the mattress was covering the open doorway, and the frame was wedged
into place, temporarily securing the mattress. The storm outside was little
more than a muffled growl.
    Sighing loudly, Sam turned to face her older brother but her
gaze fell upon Will instead, and her heart broke a little at the expression on
his face. Freezing mid